It’s been a busy month and a half at Delta Gymnastics, with athletes travelling in all directions – as far north as Prince George, west to Victoria, and south to Idaho – as well as within the Lower Mainland, to compete for the club at six major meets.
“We are extremely proud of all the athletes on their performance at these meets. They all worked very hard leading up to the events and handled themselves very well during the competition,” said program coordinator Jenn Watts.
Fifty-eight athletes represented DGS at three major competitions overlapping each other from Feb. 22 to 27 – BC Winter Games, high school provincials, and the Great West Gym Fest annual competition in Idaho.
At the BC Winter Games in Quesnel, level 8 Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) athlete Miele Teiffel won the bronze medal for her floor routine, competing as a member of the Zone 5 team, who also won the third-place All-Around award for overall performance.
On the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics (MAG) side, Keanan Morcilla qualified for the high bar finals and finished sixth All-Around, and Jordan Jones qualified for the vault finals and finished eighth All-Around.
In Prince George for the high school provincials, level 2 junior Katherine Kishor from Seaquam Secondary earned first All-Around, finishing first on vault and beam. She was one of six DGS athletes to finish in the top 10 for level 2 junior competitors.
At the Great West Gym Fest in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Jordan Ackerman, Myella Perena, and Nicole Matus each took first All-Around at their levels, and the DGS level 7 team also took first place. Cassia Gates and Mila Festejo each took second, and Malia Hancock and Lana Thrale each placed third.
During the first weekend of March, the Inspire Cup took place in Victoria.
Perena and Matus finished first All-Around again at their levels, and Gates and Lila Bulka each finished second. The level 7 ladies also claimed the first All-Around team award.
It was also the qualifying event for the Western Canadian Championships, which will take place April 18 to 21 in Langley. Eight DGS athletes qualified for Team BC – Morcilla, Bulka, Gabriela Hoolsema, Carolina Hoolsema, Sydney Thomas, Mackenzie Hayes, Annabelle Ma, and Kaiya Tien.
“Having athletes named to Team BC really shows the strength of our competitive programs,” added Watts. “The competitive team of coordinators and coaches have worked hard to build this up and have dedicated lots of time to all the athletes in the program.”
Delta Gymnastics hosted their first competition of the year in mid-March – the Spring Fever Invitational. Perena took first place All-Around for the third consecutive competition, including a first-place finish on beam.
To wrap up the month, the BC Championships took place during the Easter weekend at the PNE Forum. Matus swept all the categories and finished first All-Around in level 6 group F. Victoria Seel finished second in the group, and her sister Lilliane Seel finished second in level 6 group C. Sydney Thomas took first in level 10 junior, Hancock finished second, and Gates finished third in level 7 group D.
